Thursday, February 28, 2013

Cabela's and Bass Pro Shops are always interesting places to go. In addition to all manner of outdoor and sporting goods to drool over, both chains have impressive taxidermy displays. Cabela's has lots of whitetail deer, as well as axis, fallow and red deer--but pretty much anyone can see those species on a summer drive through the Texas Hill Country. I was much more taken by the musk ox, which aren't easy to come by on these parts, even on game ranches.

I don't like taking cell phone pictures. In fact, I generally hate them. But while running an errand in town without my camera (I know, my bad) I happened across this magnificent personalized license plate. It tells those in the know that the driver takes his beer brewing very seriously!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

More catch-up photos for the 365 project (I swear, someday I will be up-to-date). This is from the second day of ConDFW, when the room parties were in full swing. The unparalleled Kim Kofmel, obviously suffering from having too much time on her hands, is now working on yet another convention bid, this one on behalf of Detroit for the 2014 NASFiC convention. Hey, if Kim's involved in the bid, it's got to be a quality con.

Once again I find myself playing catch-up with my 365 photography project. Taking 9 hours of university classwork, plus working a 40 hour week, plus fulfilling family obligations does not make for an over abundance of free time. I haven't even managed any edits to my Chicken Ranch book these past two weeks! In any event, here's a shot from last weekend, when the family and I attended ConDFW in Dallas. It was my first visit to that convention in a decade, and I'd missed the great people who put it on. Bug was in his element, and found the gamers right away. Here he is learning the intricacies of Battletech from a seasoned pro:

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Had a rare clear night last week, and despite a very hectic schedule, pulled out the tripod around 10 p.m. to squeeze off a few lunar astrophotos. I wanted to set up my telescope for this, but the moon was already low in the sky and my window of opportunity was shrinking fast. So the 500mm reflex had to suffice. It didn't do too badly. I plan to eventually do a month-long chronicle of the lunar phases, but expecting 28-plus days of cloudless nights is asking a bit much, perhaps.

This glass sculpture once resided on the grounds of Aquarena, but has since been relocated to the J.C. Mitte Art Building on the Texas State campus due to the restoration of the natural habitat around Aquarena. This is an interesting wide-angle view, but the bare trees and cloudless sky detract some. Maybe this spring I'll give it another shot.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Last Friday, a spectacular meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia. It made worldwide news, and for many proved to be the first time they'd ever heard of the industrial city near the Ural Mountains. No me, though. Back in my days as a newspaper sports reporter, the Chelyabinsk hockey team, "Traktor" (named after the tractor factory in town) toured Texas playing teams in the Western Professional Hockey League. I bought one of their pennants as a souvenir.
So, I have to wonder: Will they change their name to "Meteor" now?

In my drawing class, we're currently doing sketches of the LBJ Student Center as well as several flights of nearby steps. I took this photo in the morning to use as reference and liked the colors cast by the freshly-risen sun. The light looks warm here, but I can assure you it was anything but!

All right, after a week of not posting my 365 photos, I'm way backlogged again. I'm telling you, folks, this semester has been killer. Today's image is, well, weak. I wanted to do a clever riff on the whole "take a self-portrait with the cell phone camera" thing that seems to be required for Facebook, but by the end of the day I confess to being exhausted and mentally spent. So this is the best I got.

Friday, February 15, 2013

In just a few hours I'll be setting off with the family to Dallas, where I'll be a program participant at ConDFW! This marks the first time I've been able to attend this convention in a decade, and I'm excited because up until then, it ranked as one of my favorite events of the year. Here's my schedule, sans any potential autograph sessions (chuckle) or readings. If you get a chance, stop by and say "Howdy!"

SATURDAY2 p.m.: Tweaking Reality: How to Alter History Believably
Panelists: Candace Havens (M), Jo Walton, Taylor Anderson, Lou Antonelli, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
When you read most alternate history stories, there are major changes in the timeline. The First World War is still going in 1939, for instance, or the Civil War doesn’t end. But you can’t just say “The Civil War doesn’t end” and expect people to believe you. Sometimes it is the small changes at key times that herald alternate history – and our experts tell you how to sell small changes to your readers so they stick around for the ride.
3 p.m.: The Roles of Super Heroes in Urban Fantasy
Panelists: Tracy S. Morris (M), Michael Ashleigh Finn, Rachel Caine, Mel White, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
When you say the term “Super Hero”, you generally don’t think about Urban Fantasy. In comic book terms, you’d imagine a “Four Color” world where evil is bad and heroes are good. But TV series such as Supernatural and book series such as Dresden Files paint a different ideal, and super heroes are no longer black and white. What makes a super hero in the Urban Fantasy genre? And how do you use such a character? Our panelists debate this and other topics.
SUNDAY1 p.m.: Interstellar Archaeology: Part Two – The Debunking
Panelists: Mel White (M), Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Lou Antonelli, S. Boyd Taylor, Rick Gonyo, Gloria Oliver
The second of two panels where we inflict discover startling artifacts of OBVIOUS alien origin. Our experts tell us how wrong the previous esteemed panelists were! Last year, Sunday’s panel thoroughly debunked Friday’s experts. Come see if the same holds true this year!

It's high time I featured 80s mainstays INXS on Friday Night Videos. Their albums were practically the soundtrack to my high school years, and their videos were a stylish staple of MTV (back, of course, when MTV still played videos). Here's their breakthrough hit in the U.S., "What You Need."

Okay, last weekend I took off and headed over to La Grange to meet up with the production team from the Expedition Texas television program, as well as the current owner of the Chicken Ranch, to shoot an episode for that show. It's sort of a first-person documentary program, Texas Country Reporter or the late Eyes of Texas show. It proved to be a great deal of fun, and I'll share more in the near future. Here's the last shot I took of the old ruin that day, just as clouds started rolling in to blot out the sunset and sky for the evening.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Still playing catch-up, and yes, my entries are coming out of order now. Here's another image of that fossilized shell I first posted a couple of weeks ago. Yes, we're still working on that same project in my digital photography class, although now I'm finally starting to get an idea of what the project actually entails. This wasn't taken with a camera, but rather a flatbed scanner. Interesting, no?

Still playing catch-up on the photo a day project. In the interest of expediency, I'm skipping over a couple of entries since they were shot on film, and I haven't had a chance to develop the prints yet. sigh Anyway, here's the first turtle of the year. Spring is definitely arriving early this year.

Friday, February 08, 2013

We do have winter in Texas. Just not much of it. December was downright cold, with quite a few light freezes--enough to make me anticipate a real winter. But then January arrived, and things warmed up. February's been even warmer, with the mercury hitting 80 degrees more often than not of late. It's been so warm that many plants are breaking their winter dormancy. I noticed this redbud tree blooming on Monday--just four days into February! That's nuts. The first week of February was reserved for serious ice storms back when I was in college. In 20 years, we've gone from ice storms to sunbathing (yeah, the bikinis are out in force at Texas State this week). Tell me again how global warming/climate change is fake.

By the time you see this, I'll be well on my way to La Grange, where I'm meeting with a TV crew to do a bit of a documentary on the Chicken Ranch. It not a huge production, so don't get all worked up about it. I'll provide more details in the next day or so.
But, that brings us to today's installment of Friday Night Videos. Up until a short while ago, I'd completely forgotten LaTour's song, "People Are Still Having Sex" ever existed. And I surely never knew it actually had a video. This was one of those techno dance things I only ever heard in clubs during my misspent college years. Not really my choice for aural entertainment, but when I came across it, many memories were jogged of hours spent in the smoky Sundance club of the College Station Hilton. It made me laugh. So I'm sharing the memory with you, as the subject matter is apropos for a day spent at the world's most infamous brothel, no?

Thursday, February 07, 2013

So, I've been away for a while. That doesn't mean I haven't been shooting photos for the 365 project. It does mean I've been slammed, and not had a moment to process or upload anything. Also means I'm suffering a bit of sleep deprivation this week as well. But I grabbed a few minutes tonight, and started playing a little catch up.
This picture of the day is one of 17 brass Chicken Ranch tokens I picked up from an Ebay auction. They're fake--as are all Chicken Ranch tokens, on Ebay or elsewhere--no matter what anyone may tell you. The Miss Edna confirmed to me that the Chicken Ranch never had such things, and the earliest record I have of them date to 1977. That's the year the Chicken Ranch restaurant opened in Dallas, and they sold them as souvenirs. After the restaurant closed, ads appeared in the classified section of the Dallas Morning News for all that remained. These look to be brand-new, struck at some metal shop somewhere. Doesn't matter--they're still neat conversation pieces. Even if they're fake.

Friday, February 01, 2013

Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery have spent this past week at Texas State University. They've spent most of the week creating an intricately beautiful sand mandala in the LBJ Student Center on campus, which by now has been erased with some of the sand being cast into the San Marcos River in a blessing ceremony by the monks. I'd intended to attend their opening ceremonies on Monday, and visit throughout the week to watch their mandala progress. Alas, I've been so swamped that this morning was the first--and only--chance I got to visit. To my delight, they hadn't finished work on the mandala, and I was able to watch their painstaking acts of creation in progress. Breathtaking work.

Camera: Canon 7DLens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 macro
I took quite a few shots, ultimately filling up my memory card. So here's a bonus shot for today's 365 photo project entry. Were that all my daily photos so interesting!

Patty Andrews, the last of the legendary Andrews Sisters, died this week at the age of 94. The Andrews Sisters had amazing harmonies in their song, and took swing in directions it'd never ventured before that trio arrived on the scene. They practically defined music during World War II. In Patty's memory, here is perhaps their best-known hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy".